Friday, August 20, 2010

Your mission....should you decide to accept it...

"Good evening fellow reader..."

Today's adventure takes you to the International Spy Museum,


Ignore the man on the phone...he's a spy

Once inside, you can infiltrate and explore the history of the modern day spy...their techniques, their equipment...and see if YOU have what it takes to complete a mission and get out of the country without blowing your cover.  Seriously.  You get a cover identity when you walk into the museum and have to check in at various points throughout the building to see if you remember all the details of your story and your mission.  Get busted by the "guards"?  You're apprehended by security and they won't let you out of the building.

(OK...maybe they'll let you out of the building, but you're going to feel like Johnny English for awhile)

And in case you're wondering, I was undercover as Maria Rivera...a 17 year old student from Tecolate'en, Mexico...traveling on vacation to the Iowa State fair to meet up with Patsy Brown to smuggle back an autographed photo containing a microdot.  Oh yeah...I was able to sneak out of the country successfully.  Take that Emma Peel!

So among the things you can learn:

Did you know that it took upwards of 25 years for the embassies in Russia and the US to be built because each construction site kept being infiltrated by surveillance equipment?  You got it...construction crews were hiding bugs in the buildings throughout the entire process.

Certain pigeons...those pesky, annoying flying rats you see everywhere...were decorated with medals for their spying assistance during World War I....

You can learn how different celebrities through the years contributed as spies during different times of war...(Hollywood stars were recruited as spies in one decade, only to be suspected as spies by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in another).

Learn what a dead drop is...test your code cracking skills....and can YOU crawl through a ventilation shaft without making a sound...(no, really...crawl through it...I dare you!!!)

And here's just how Top Secret this place is....NO PHOTOGRAPHY once you're inside.  And if you're sitting there thinking, "Ahhh, Gina...you could've snuck a picture or two..."  Think about it...you're cruising around a SPY museum....do you think they weren't watching????

All this and more...found in the Spy Museum.  This is your assignment when next in Washington D.C.

"...as always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions"

....this blog will self destruct in 30 seconds....